Looking back on 22

I think it was sometime in high school that I decided 22 had to be the best age… you are old enough to drink (but a
year into it, so the simple novelty of it has passed), hopefully finished with or finishing up college, maybe getting
ready to start that first big full-time job, maybe married or at least thinking about it… you’re finishing off the
“preparation” and ready to really begin your adult life. Well, that’s what I thought back then anyways.

Today I’m 23, and now as I reexamine the last year, I really hope that doesn’t turn out to be the best one :). I’ve
made a few minor accomplishments this year – started a new job at UofM that will hopefully turn into a full-time
position (should know in the next week or two), made a lot of progress on Hedmaster, took my first real steps
(however small they were) toward really getting involved in local politics, and played a small role in helping Visible
School get candidacy status for accreditation. Okay so there are surely some other things I did this year, but it
certainly wasn’t the flux I had imagined it would be. I’m quite some distance from finishing my bachelor’s degree, am
not in a relationship, and don’t really make enough money to pay my bills. That’s not to say I’m feeling all
despondent about it, but rather that I know (hope) my best years are ahead of me and really wish they’d hurry the hell
up and get here!